If you like pickles and ferments, then you have to make these – they are amazing, and it’s a good way to deal with a glut of cucumbers if you grow them yourself. Not only does the process of fermentation transform the ordinary into something extraordinary, it preserves them at the same time, so you can enjoy all your hard work much later on in the year.
Ingredients
3 - 4 firm fresh cucumbers
1 large shallot or small red onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp of caraway seeds
2 tsp of black mustard seeds
2 Tbls of fine salt
Method
Peel and thinly slice the cucumber. You can do this by hand, but I like to cut them really thinly so I use my old mandolin. Place the sliced cucumbers into a large bowl.
Peel and thinly slice the shallot or red onion and add this to the cucumbers along with the caraway seeds, mustard seeds and salt.
Tumble the sliced cucumbers together with all the other ingredients then pack them into a clean 1-litre Kilner jar or similar. Push the cucumbers down into the brine. The longer they sit in the salt, the more brine they will produce.
Fill a small plastic food bag with water and sit this on top of the cucumbers and other ingredients. This will keep everything submerged below the salty brine.
Close the lid but don’t snap it shut, you want the ferment to breathe. Leave the jar in a cool place for 1 – 3 weeks to allow the cucumbers to ferment.
It’s worth having a taste periodically, they should have a really tangy flavour. If you’re happy with the taste, you can pop the jar in the fridge, They’ll be ready to eat, and are perfect with grilled steak, shellfish, good cheese, fatty charcuterie, or anything smoked or straight out of the fire.